Why I Cut the Most Honest Line From My Own Newsletter
Read on my website / Read time: 2-3 minutes
A few weeks ago, the email I sent you had a line in it that never made it to your inbox.
I wrote it, read it back to myself, and deleted it before I hit send.
The line said I was taking a break until August.
I was scared — scared you'd think I was inconsistent, scared the list would shrink, and most of all, scared that the guy who writes about rest couldn't actually take any himself.
That’s not who I am or who I want to be.
So I cut the line and sent the email anyway.
Between trying to stay present with my family amidst summer schedule changes, finishing the work on my upcoming book, building a new three-hour workshop for executives, serving my current clients with excellence, and rehabbing a torn patellar tendon (still), I'm tired.
I could keep pumping out an issue and podcast every two weeks anyway. It would probably read fine. You might not even notice.
But I'd know. And worse yet, I would feel it. That hollow feeling of giving you less than you deserve while cheating myself out of the rest that creates the conditions for anything worth sending.
A marketer friend I work with made a strong case for pushing through the summer.
The argument wasn't crazy: I have a book coming out in early 2027, my email list needs to grow, and momentum is a real thing. I heard him out. I sat with it. I even started to come around.
Until my anxiety level spiked.
Then I asked myself one question.
What good is the REST guy if he's burned out?
That question answered itself.
The June 14 issue was the last newsletter/podcast of Season 1.
I've been thinking about it the way you'd think about a TV show: a season of episodes with a beginning, a middle, and a natural end before the next season picks back up.
Season 2 will start around mid-August, and I plan to come back with something worth your time. If something rises to the surface before then, I'll send it. But I'm not going to force it.
I'm not built for a “do as I say, not as I do” brand.
In the meantime, I'll be sending out the most popular newsletters from season 1 over the summer.
And if Season 1 taught me anything worth passing on, it's that slowing down when the season calls for it is the work, not a departure from it.
I’m predicting the creativity that makes season two worth reading and listening to won't come from grinding it out at my desk. It's going to come from a Wednesday afternoon puttering in the garage, enjoying pickleball with my son, or taking a hike in the White Mountains when my brain finally has some margin. I'm willing to be held to that.
Enjoy your summer. I'll be doing the same.
Until then,
PS - I have a few spots open for 1:1 executive coaching for business owners and executives. Apply now to find out if it's for you.